CAT, Tata to sign MoU for submarine cable partnership

This is part of the government’s plan to seek more strategic partners in the telecom industry during Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s three-day visit to India that ends tomorrow.
Tata Communications is a telecom company of the Tata Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company. It and its affiliates operate one of the world’s largest global transmission networks, Tata Global Network, circling the globe and connecting key business locations with both undersea and terrestrial cables.
It has TGN Western, TGN Indiancom, TGN Pacific, TGN Intra Asia, TGN Gulf and TGN Atlantic routes.
CAT Telecom is the state agency that runs Thailand’s international telecommunications infrastructure, including its international gateways, satellite, and submarine cable network connections.
According to the MoU, CAT plans to expand its international coverage and capacity to support its business and promote the development of the digital economy in Thailand.
Tata wants a cost effective, scalable solution for connectivity within Thailand and countries neighbouring Thailand to support its global business and customers.
Tata and CAT agreed to progress to good-faith discussions in exploring the opportunity to collaborate on a submarine cable business and other telecommunication services projected to be mutually beneficial for both parties.
An Information and Communication Technology Ministry source said that this was part of the government’s plan to push CAT to provide extensive international capacity from Thailand to key global destinations.
Recently, the government announced it was allocating Bt20 billion for bridging the digital divide and promoting the country’s international cable capacity, of which Bt5 billion will be allocated to support CAT in a submarine cable project.